(CNN) -- From time to time, Sasha Raven Gross can be seen teetering around a neighborhood drinking hole. She flirts with strangers, talks gibberish and sometimes spins in circles for no apparent reason until she falls down. In one hand is her liquid of choice -- watered-down orange juice in a sippy cup.
The 14-month-old toddler is the sort of barfly who's at the center of a recurring and heated debate: Should parents be allowed to bring their babies and children to bars?
Get the full article at this link:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/02/brooklyn.babies.in.bars/index.html?hpt=C1
I am never a fan of new laws. I can't think of a single proposed law in recent memory that I actually supported, or thought might even be a good idea. And I still feel the same when it comes to this issue.
We already have laws against child abuse, neglect, and so forth. Laws which might be applicable if a parent brought a kid to a real rough and rowdy place and proceeded to get plastered while not even bothering to keep an eye on their child. On the other hand, I don't see it as irresponsible at all to stop in and have a pint with a few friends during an afternoon stroll, or maybe on your way to the grocery store or something. Especially nowadays when smoking is illegal in bars in so many states like here in NY.
Parents should exercise some discretion of course. They should respect the comfort zone of other bar patrons for one thing. A parent should not be dragging a kid into a rough and tumble foul-mouthed biker bar, or a sex-charged pick-up scene sort of bar and expect other patrons to change their behavior because they have a toddler in tow. But a local pub that is as much a local hangout and place to grab a bite as it is a place to get a beer or shot of whiskey is not really a place that a child should be forbidden from entering necessarily.
At the end of the day, I would leave it up to the bar owner rather than legislators. If it's a bar where the owner and patrons are not offended by the presence of a child, then what's the problem? If you are offended by a kid in a bar, visit a bar that won't allow kids.
I don't know about anyone else, but I happen to like freedom. The freedom to choose. To choose where to go. To choose your company. To choose how you want to run your business. To choose how you think it is best to raise your own child.
